Planning vs. Acting on Impulse — Which Generates Better Rewards

So you want to succeed in your business and get the best rewards out of your efforts. Congratulations, you’re on the right track for success. Wanting it is part of the plan, but some people hope that acting on impulse will lead them to success, while the ones with a little more business sense know the importance of planning. If you want to succeed in business, you must plan, you can’t just hope the luck of the draw will work in your favor. Luck may reward you once in awhile, but that can’t be part of your business plan. If you don’t already know the benefits of planning, here are a few to help steer you in the right direction.

Less Crunching: The major problem with a lack of planning is that you will have to rush to meet goals, and may miss important deadlines. You also don’t just inconvenience yourself when you don’t plan appropriately, but you inconvenience other people, too. Most jobs can’t be done single-handedly, and you may have to outsource or work with partners to accomplish your goals. When you’re rushing, any part of your team will also have to rush, and you live your life just hoping that you’ll meet deadlines. Hoping for business success alone is stressful enough, let alone the added stress of wondering if any of your projects will ever be completed.

Not only that, you can count on a job well done, rather than a half assed attempt. If you’re going to do something, have the time to do it right. And while that last step in a project may be out of your hands, if you waited until the last minute to even enact a project, guess what: It’s your fault that you didn’t meet deadline, it’s your fault you aren’t rewarded for your efforts, and it’s your fault that you aren’t going to accomplish the goals you set for yourself. That’s if you even bothered setting goals, if you’re flying by the seat of your pants, it’s doubtful that you had the foresight to set realistic, attainable and measureable goals for your business.

Planning will allow you more opportunities.

More Opportunities: Planning will allow you more opportunities. When you’re acting on impulse and not weighing all of your options, options may present themselves that you simply are unable to act on. If you hear a great idea during the planning process, you’re able to incorporate it into your project and do the necessary research to make it happen. If you’re just impulsively making decisions about the direction you’d like your business to head in, you’re going to be sorely disappointed when you run out of time or resources to make it happen.

If you want your business to succeed, and to be rewarded for your efforts, does it really make sense to limit the opportunities you’re able to have? It doesn’t, and it is foolish to act on impulse and hope that what you’ve decided is going to be a winning choice. You might have a lucky break once in awhile, but success doesn’t typically come down to luck, it comes down to hard work, wise decisions, acting on opportunities, and planning.

Money Saving: Planning will help you save money, too. When you have a plan in place, you hopefully built time into that plan for research and development. With time built in to do that, you’re able to shop around to find the most cost effective ways to accomplish your goals. You may get an email saying that there is a one day only sale on the newest and greatest software for your company, and in doing so impulsively decide to buy it so as to not lose the deal, but if it is something you planned on needed, you’d do your homework. And your homework might just tell you the sale price of the program isn’t actually that much of a deal. Or you’ll know that it is a killer deal and confidently make the purchase.

Not only that, if you’re making impulse decisions, you may find yourself in a bit of a time crunch to accomplish your goals. In that case you may incur rush fees, expedited shipping costs, or even just simply make costly mistakes and find yourself having to redo things. If you want to save money, plan. And more money saved means more money in your pocket.

Stay Trendy: You may see an idea that seems just amazing, and impulsively decide to act on it. But while it may seem amazing to you, a little planning and research may show you that there is a trendier option out there. Or that a competitor tried the same idea and didn’t succeed in your market. Impulsivity can mean the product you’re trying to sell is old news, and that is not part of the recipe for success.

This goes back to money saving, too. If you spend money on the newest craze without knowing that the craze is actually just crazy, you’re going to flush a lot of money down the drain. Do some research to make sure your impulse idea is actually worth your time and money.

The Exception: Of course there will always be exceptions to the rule, and there will always be that one person who did somehow manage to succeed just by acting on impulse and hoping for the best. But you can’t base your business model around being the exception. Base your business around a plan, and strive to complete other projects with a plan. Proper planning will actually allow you to be impulsive in certain areas of your market. If you’re plan time every quarter to intensively research industry trends, if an opportunity presents itself, you can go into an impulse decision educated.

Have a plan in place that allows you to act impulsively on certain things. And if there is one thing you shouldn’t plan on, it is success coming by the luck of a successful impulse decision. Plan for success, and success will reward your efforts.